September 13th

September 13, 2011

PAWTUCKET â€” The owner of a local rug manufacturer said he has grown frustrated with National Grid's slow response to a loss of electrical power at his company â€” and it occurred long before Tropical Storm Irene.
On June 6 at around 11:30 a.m., a transformer located outside a mill complex at 560 Mineral Spring Ave. exploded while in the midst of being repaired by National Grid workers. The blaze that erupted caused damage to a stair tower, windows and a portion of the roof of the 325,000-square foot historic mill complex and disrupted power to 125 tenants.

September 11th

September 11, 2011

PROVIDENCE â€“ A huge U.S. flag, held aloft at the entrance to the Statehouse lawn by the extension ladders of a pair of Providence fire trucks, greeted the approximately 100 people who attended the 10th anniversary observance of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on Sunday.

September 10th

September 10, 2011

By

JOSEPH B. NADEAU

NORTH SMITHFIELD â€” The passage of 10 years hasn't soothed the pain for Aram P. Jarret Jr. and his family but remembering his daughter Amy N. Jarret's caring ways does help them cope to a degree.
Amy was a flight attendant on United Flight 175 out of Boston and died at the age of 28 when terrorists seized the aircraft and flew it into the South Tower of the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

September 9th

September 9, 2011

Veterans groups, first responders and civic officials from around the Valley will mark 9/11 with special Masses, prayer services and tributes on Sunday. Here is a roundup of the planned observances, arranged by the community.

PAWTUCKET
â€” The Major Walter Gatchell VFW Post 306 will conduct a ceremony at the post home, 171 Fountain Street, Pawtucket, Sunday at 11 a.m. Coffee and pastry will be served.

September 9, 2011

By

By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET â€” Under a bright moon and with the Blackstone River gushing mightily over the dam by Slater Mill, hundreds of people ate, drank and danced at the kick-off Gala for the 2011 Pawtucket Arts Festival.
â€śThe weather today has been great, and with so many nights of rain, I think it really energized people,â€ť commented John Baxter, chairman of this year's Pawtucket Arts Festival. â€śThe turn-out has been amazing, and I think the entire event is well put-together to offer a mix of not only food and music but culture as well.â€ť

September 8th

September 8, 2011

LINCOLN â€” When the town's six public schools opened Tuesday morning, they did so with teachers and administrators ready to tackle several initiatives the Lincoln School Administration team either adopted new this year or will continue to address.
In fact, some initiatives also have been adopted by the Cumberland and Woonsocket public school districts. Those three municipalities have formed a consortium to institute what's known as the Charles A. Dana Center Project, one based at the University of Texas at Austin.

September 7th

September 7, 2011

NORTH KINGSTOWN â€“ The Tea Party Express rolled into Rhode Island Wednesday on two big buses as part of its nationwide â€śReclaiming Americaâ€ť tour.
TPX, as it fashions itself, is a traveling show of conservative politics, leavened with music and comedy, all wrapped up in patriotic Americana. It embarked from Napa, California and has made its way across the midsection of the country â€” â€śwhat the media calls flyover countryâ€ť as one speaker put it â€” to New England and is now southbound for Tampa, Fla., where it is partnering with CNN to sponsor a debate among Republican presidential candidates.

September 6th

September 6, 2011

WOONSOCKET â€” A city resident has been ordered held on federal charges stemming from his alleged involvement in a large-scale heroin-trafficking operation.
Andres Jiminez, 37, of 121 Linden Ave., made an initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court, Providence, after investigators seized more than seven kilos of heroin, a kilo of cocaine and $30,000 in cash from a commercial storage facility in Pawtucket over the weekend.

September 6, 2011

PAWTUCKET â€” It was spinning and weaving that first put Pawtucket on the map as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. That's why artist Donald Gerola chose a high-tech and larger-than-life version of â€śtextileâ€ť production as his latest public arts project in the city where he makes his home.

September 5th

September 5, 2011

WOONSOCKET â€” For most people, Labor Day is a last call for summer, a chance for one more family cookout or that final great day at the beach.
But at the cityâ€™s Museum of Work And Culture, the holiday was another chance to remember a difficult period of local history, a national textile workerâ€™s strike that came to town in early September 1934 and claimed the lives of two city men in the process.
As part of its Labor Day Open House 2011 program, the Museum staged two performances of Raymond H. Baconâ€™s short play about the strike and its local aftermath.

September 3, 2011

By

ERIKA NIEDOWSKI (AP)

PROVIDENCE (AP) â€” A state legislator charged with misappropriating funds from a life insurance policy on his friend's dead daughter told investigators he used some of the money to pay his business' bills, according to court papers.
State Rep. Leo Medina, a freshman Democrat from Providence, is accused of pocketing $28,000 from a life insurance policy that he was helping his friend cash in. Medina told investigators he paid Alejandro Nico $6,200 to $6,400 but used some of the money to pay bills for his struggling business, according to an affidavit written by a state police detective.

September 3, 2011

By

DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

NORTH PROVIDENCE â€” Col. John J. Whiting, the town's police chief and a former Pawtucket Police major, was released on bail but remains suspended without pay following his arraignment on Thursday on felony charges that he stole $714 out of a vehicle involved in a police chase and then asked Pawtucket Police to cover it up.

September 2nd

September 2, 2011

By

LAURA CRIMALDI (AP)

SCITUATE (AP) â€” The police chief of North Providence was arrested Thursday by state police on felony charges he stole more than $700 out a vehicle involved in a police chase and then asked police to cover it up.
Col. John J. Whiting was charged with larceny over $500 and two counts of solicitation of obstruction of justice after being questioned by investigators, said state police Col. Steven G. O'Donnell.

September 2, 2011

By

DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET â€” It might seem like an unlikely place for a party, but the Lachapelle Funeral Home has been the scene of several lively and enjoyable post-Irene gatherings.
For three consecutive nights since the storm knocked out the neighborhood's power, Christine Lachapelle-Miller and her husband, Bill Miller, have hosted a large-scale cookout at the funeral home at 643 Main St. in Woodlawn. The couple and their four children also make their home above the family business, which was started by Christine's father, Robert Lachapelle, over 50 years ago.

August 31st

August 31, 2011

EAST PROVIDENCE â€” Fire Chief Joe Klucznik said Wednesday evening that Rhode Island Department of Transportation officials had taken control of a clean-up operation after approximately 24,000 gallons of home heating fuel spilled onto Valley Street and covered two nearby buildings earlier in the day.
The cause of the accident: A backhoe operated by a Cardi Corp. construction crew member punctured a 16-inch, high pressure pipeline, propelling the fuel 30-40 feet into the air.

August 31, 2011

CENTRAL FALLS â€” The exact cause has yet to be determined, but Fire Department officials believe that a candle was likely to blame for a Monday night tenement fire that displaced 12.
According to acting Fire Chief John Garvey, the fire was reported at around 8:37 p.m. in a three-story house at 138 Railroad St. The entire house, like much of the surrounding neighborhood, was without power.

August 31, 2011

PAWTUCKET â€” As the power outages continue throughout many neighborhoods in Pawtucket, Mayor Donald Grebien and the police and fire chiefs say they are still largely in the dark as to when National Grid will have the electricity for the entire city fully restored.
Following a statewide conference call on Tuesday for city officials statewide, the Grebien Administration issued a memo saying that the latest news was that supplemental National Grid crews arrived at the Community College of Rhode Island in Warwick that afternoon and crews had been arriving in the city throughout the day.

August 29th

August 29, 2011

PAWTUCKET â€” There are hundreds of residents without power, toppled trees and downed wires, and several major intersections with no traffic signals. Yet, as Mayor Donald Grebien stated at an emergency management meeting with city officials and department heads on Monday afternoon, â€śWe're dealing with the aftermath, but thank God, it was not worse.â€ť
Because six of the city's public schools were still without power as of late Monday afternoon, Schools Supt. Deborah Cylke pushed back opening day for students to Thursday now, with teachers and staff to report on Wednesday.

August 28th

August 28, 2011

High winds and waves pummel the south coast of Rhode Island as Hurricane Irene makes its closest pass early Sunday morning.The National Weather Service in Taunton, Ma. issued a flood warning for the Blackstone River in Woonsocket from late Sunday night to Monday afternoon or until the warning is cancelled, after heavy rains due to the storm that fell Saturday night and Sunday. At 12:30 p.m. Sunday, the stage was 5.9 feet. Flood stage for the river is 9 feet, and minor flooding is forecast.